What are you?
by A.Wonder1
Summary: There's nothing really left in the world, and there is so little trust between everyone that is left, that some races don't know or recognize the other. Sauron is on the rise, and has been for the last 80 years, but with the one ring still missing he cannot truly rise to power. The only alternative is for him to take a host, and there is only one race can provide that.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 _"_ _I can name one for myself Ada?" Legolas asked, as he and king Thranduil_ _sat out on a balcony in one of the rare moments where father and son could be alone together; both looking up at the clear shining lights in the endless black sky._

 _"_ _Yes, my Pînlas. You may pick anyone you like, and name it whatever you wish," Thranduil smiled, as his son turned his awe filled eyes back up to the shining lights once more._

 _"_ _Do you have one Ada?" Legolas asked, as he turned on his father's lap to look up at him. The king smiled down at his boy and wrapped his arms around him a bit more securely._

 _"_ _Yes, Pînlas, I do have a star that I have named. It is the dim one, there by the moon, between the two bright ones. See it Pînlas?" the king asked, as he pointed out the star to his boy._

 _"_ _I see it Ada, but why did you chose such a dim one?" the elfling asked, cocking his head in confusion._

 _"_ _It was not so dim when I chose it, but over time, things tend to fade, Pînlas," he explained._

 _"_ _What did you name it?" Legolas asked, as he turned his attention back up to the star._

 _"_ _I named it Galad-gell. Do you see one that you like?" the king asked, and had to suppress a chuckle as his son nodded enthusiastically._

 _"_ _That one, right next to yours. I am going to call it Ruin," the elfling beamed, and then clapped a hand over his mouth to suppress a yawn. The elf-king did chuckle at this, as the boy rubbed a fist over his tired eyes._

 _"_ _Close your eyes and listen closely Pînlas, and you just might be able to hear the stars singing," the king said, as he carefully adjusted his son in his arms; getting ready to carry the elfling to bed. There was a moment of silence, before a large smile spread across the elfling's face._

 _"_ _I can hear them, Ada. It is kind of like talking to the trees, except they are much quieter, and they do not speak like the trees do. There is only music, no words," the elfling said, before suppressing another yawn._

 _"_ _They are very beautiful, but it is now time for you to go to sleep," he said, as he carefully stood with the elfling gently nestled in his strong arms. Unconsciously, Legolas wrapped his small arms around his father's neck and rested his cheek against his father's shoulder._

 _They went back inside through the balcony doors to the young prince's bedchamber, where Thranduil carefully laid Legolas down in his bed. Legolas released his father and turned onto his side, grabbing a stuffed fox from beside him and hugged it to his chest. Smiling at his son's cute behavior, Thranduil pulled the large comforter over the elfling and his toy. Leaning down, the king tenderly brushed a hand across the prince's forehead, brushing back the golden strands of hair that were similar to his own._

 _"_ _Good night, my Pînlas," he said, placing a kiss on the child's cheek. Legolas didn't say anything. Instead letting a bright smile do all his talking for him._

Legolas let a faint smile ghost across his lips as he pulled himself from the sweet memory.

"I wish I could hear the stars singing now, Ada," he whispered, as he turned his eyes up to the cloudy soot filled skies.

There was nothing for him to see except for inky blackness. With a light sigh, the prince pulled his travel worn cloak tighter around himself, and double checked to make sure that the cloth over his nose and mouth remained secure. The air around him was bad enough to breath with the thick cloth in place, he couldn't afford to breath the polluted air without it.

With that done, he looked back down at the tracks he had been following. The steps were large and heavy, completely trampling the dead, dry, grass that barely covered the parched earth. They were obviously the tracks of orcs, but that wasn't what the elf was interested in. Intermingled with the tracks of the orcs were a smaller number lighter and smaller tracks, the tracks of men.

This was what caught the elf's attention. He had been following this particular party for four days now, and it appeared as though none of the humans had died, which could only mean one thing. They had food and water with them, two things the elf desperately needed. Clean, untainted water was such a rare thing these days, that at any opportunity that it might become available, it must be taken.

With experienced eyes, Legolas looked back down at the tracks. They were fresh. He was getting very close. A few hours away at most, and dawn was nearly there. The orcs would stop to rest with their human prisoners.

The elf leaped up to his feet in excitement. He had finished the last of his water yesterday morning. He hoisted his light pack up onto his shoulder and padded soundlessly off in the direction of the tracks on his bare feet.

 **TBC**

 **Translations:**

 **Ada- Dad**

 **Pînlas- Little leaf**

 **Galad-gell- Light-joy**

 **Ruin- Blazing fire**

 **Source of translations:**

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 **More reviews = happy me = quicker updates.**

 **You are a wonderfully amazing person :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The bright light of a campfire could easily be seen through the trees in the dead forest, and the hideous sound of orc laughter could easily be heard on the wind.

Legolas sat tensed and still up in the boughs of one of the massive oak trees that ringed the clearing the orcs had chosen to set up their camp. Truthfully, their numbers weren't that bad. There were 18 fast asleep on the ground, and two more that sat by the fire, on watch duty. To the side of the clearing were the orc's prisoners, all tied together on the ground, and wearing cloths over their mouth and nose, just like himself, but again, that wasn't what the elf was concerned about. Sitting not too far away from the prisoners were several packs. All of which bulged in some way to indicate that they contained previsions.

Legolas smiled, and climbed down silently from the tree to begin the task of getting a hold of the packs.

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Aragorn sat quietly as to not alert the orcs that were on guard, and carefully tried to maneuver into a position where he could reach the orc dagger that had been carelessly left on the ground. He had just gotten to the point where he could touch the handle with his boot, when he got an unexpected kick form Boromir.

"Don't," Boromir hissed. "You'll alert the guards."

Calmly, Aragorn looked over at his friend. "What choice do we have? They are bound to kill us anyway, but we just might a chance of getting away from here with our lives if we at least try to save ourselves," he said, as he turned his attention back on trying to reach the dagger.

"I've got to agree with Aragorn on this one. We can take 'em," Gimli said from his spot a few feet away. Boromir winced at the volume of the dwarf's voice.

"Keep it down master dwarf, or we won't have any chance at all," Aragorn whispered, as he just managed to grab the blade with his feet and slide it towards himself. Just as he was reaching to grab the dagger with his bound hands, a tall, lithe figure dropped down from the trees right on top of one of the guards. The foul creature didn't even have a chance to scream before the figure drew a gleaming blade across the orc's throat. The figure leaped back gracefully as the body fell, and gave a mocking bow to the other stunned orc on duty. With a musical ringing laugh that effectively woke all the sleeping orcs, the figure turned tail and fled into forest, with all the enraged orcs following.

There was a moment of silence were all the prisoners all looked at each other in dumbfound shock.

" _What_ was that?" Gimli exclaimed, as he stared off in the direction that the figure and orcs disappeared in.

"Well I certainly won't waist a priceless opportunity like this," Aragorn said, and he proceeded to saw at his bindings.

However, before he could get too far into his cutting, the figure returned, with only five of the original 20 orcs following. With unfathomable speed and agility, the figure scaled one of the trees.

"Get that damned tree rat!" One of the orcs screamed, as they ran up to the tree and proceeded to try and knock it down. Then, almost too fast for the eye to see, two arrows shot down from the tree in rapid succession, instantly killing two of the orcs. Before the remaining three orcs could even process what happened, the figure sprang from the limb, right on top of the orc furthest from the tree. The creature screamed and stumbled back from the assault. The figure simply stabbed down into the orc's nonexistent brain, before once again springing away from the corps.

The last two orcs seemed to gain some sense, and were hesitant upon approaching the lethal figure. Calmly, the figure simply drew a second long knife that matched the first, and got into a fighter's stance. With quick, sharp movements, the figure attacked the remaining two foes. It didn't even take five minutes before the both of them were down, and the figure was peacefully cleaning the gore from the long knives.

Once the blades were clean, the figure gave them a quick examination, before sheathing them once more. With a satisfied nod at the deceased orcs, the figure trotted happily over to the packs, and proceeded to rummage through them.

"Hey! Get away from there, that's privet," Gimli protested, as the figure started to look inside his pack.

Their mysterious savoir didn't even look up at the shouting, instead the figure started to pull things out of the pack and toss the nonessentials away, before sitting back triumphantly with Gimli's water skin in hand. The stranger quickly packed it way into his own small pack, before moving on to the pack next to Gimli's.

By this time, Aragorn had just managed to cut his bindings, and slowly began to approach their thieving, savior.

However, before he could get to close, the figure's head whipped around to face him. Striking, blue eyes widened in surprise, and just like that, the figure took off for the woods.

"Wait!" Aragorn called after the figure, and started to chase after him. "Wait, the orc's had set up hunting-" Before he could even finish his sentence, there was a loud clanking sound, of metal grinding against metal, quickly followed by a startled yet pained yelp.

"Traps," he finished lamely. With a sigh, he continued to jog in the direction the figure took off in, until he finally came up upon the sight of the figure sitting in the ground, desperately trying to pry apart the jaws of a cruel looking bear trap that had snapped around his left leg.

Upon seeing Aragorn, the figure scrambled back, and began to savagely claw away at the trap, which did nothing except hurt the figure's hands, causing blood to spill over the trap, making it difficult to get a secure grip.

"Peace, my friend. You are only hurting yourself," Aragorn soothed, as he held up his hands to show that he held no weapon.

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Legolas stared up at the dark haired, silver eyed man, from his vulnerable position on the ground.

He could vaguely recall the common language of man, but it had been such a long time since he had heard it, and was having a very difficult time translating it into Sindarin.

Hearing the sound of approaching footsteps; Legolas peered around the man's shoulder to see the rest of the prisoners approaching the two of them.

"(Stay away from me!)" he shouted at the approaching strangers, as he tried to back away from them. He came to an abrupt stop, once the chain reached its end, and he could retreat no farther.

Instead of heeding his words like he wished them to do, the strangers only gave him blank and confused looks as they continued to draw near, until they all stood in a line before him.

Only then did he realize that he was speaking in his native Sivian dialect rather than Westron, the common language.

The shortest of their party, an auburn haired fellow with an impressive beard, started to yell angrily at the elf, at the same time marching up to the trapped being.

Seeing this, Legolas tried to stand, in an attempt to intimidate the approaching stranger.

He may not have cared about the race of men, but that didn't mean that he sought them harm.

His attempts only served to cause him further pain, as the snare shifted to dig further into the elf's flesh.

He gave a pained gasp, before sitting back down on the parched earth in an attempt to alleviate some of the pressure on his leg. At the same time, the silver eyed man pulled back his shorter companion.

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"Leave him be Gimli. He means no harm," Aragorn said, as he pulled the cursing dwarf back and away from the skittish being.

"In case you've forgotten, Aragorn, he's stolen my water skin!" He ragged, as he pointed an accusatory finger at the cloaked figure.

"Peace, my friend. He's only thirsty, and hungry I'd wager. He's made no movements against us, so we shall make no moves against him. After all, he did help us, even if it was for his own gain," he chastised, in a deceitfully calm voice, as he looked down upon the dwarf. "We are not far from refuge. You need not worry about water." With that he turned his attention back to the thieving stranger.

"Be at ease my friend. I mean only to release you from that cruel contraption," he said, while he carefully knelt down before the prone figure. Despite his gentle voice and movements, the stranger still backed away nervously from Aragorn.

"Alright, I'll give you your space. I'm not going to hurt you. Understand me?" He asked. The stranger only continued to watch him skeptically. "Perhaps I could bribe you?" He asked as turned to the side with his back to the stranger, as he fished around in his own pack, which Boromir had brought over. Pulling out his water skin, he made sure to keep his back to the stranger as he discreetly slipped a sleeping draught into it.

With a calming smile he presented the skin to the stranger and gave it a shake, to both mix in the drugs and let the stranger hear the water slosh around in its container.

"Surely, you must be thirsty. It's harmless I assure you," He said, as he pressed the container to his own lips and pretended to take a sip. "See? It's safe to drink. I just want to help you, but you won't let me approach," He continued in a soothing voice as he held out the skin for the stranger to take.

After a moment's hesitation, the stranger carefully scooted forwards and gingerly took the proffered drink from the ranger, before scooting back again. Once the stranger had assured himself that he was a safe distance away again, he threw back his head and started to chug down the water with happy moans as the cool liquid soothed his parched throat. Aragorn smiled as he sat back patiently, waiting for the drugs to take effect, so that he could approach the figure and actually offer some help.

Only after the stranger drained all the water did he start to suspect something. He looked back at Aragorn, and dropped the now empty skin out of shock, as he started to feel the effects of the drug.

"Easy, easy. It's all right. I'm just trying to help you," Aragorn soothed as he watched the stranger fighting for consciousness. "Gimli, Boromir, I will need the help of both of you to pry open this trap," he said, as he motioned them to approach, now that the stranger was hardly aware of the world around him anymore. The three of them carefully encircled the stranger, trying not to crowd him, but needing to get close in order to help. Gently, Aragorn pressed the stranger's shoulder down so that he was lying flat on his back, so that he couldn't fall when he did fall asleep.

With careful fingers, Aragorn felt around the trap for a release. Finding none he gave a slightly irritated sigh.

"There is no release, so we'll need to pry it off of him ourselves. Wrap some cloth around your hands so that you don't cut yourselves," He advised, as he proceeded to do what he just said. With that done the three of them then wedged their hands between the teeth of the trap in preparation to pull.

"Ready? On three. One...Two…Three." The three of them strained with the effort of opening the trap enough to pull the stranger's leg loose, but finally, they opened it just enough for Aragorn to let go with one hand and carefully maneuver the stranger's foot free.

"Let go carefully. We don't want anyone to lose a finger," He said as they all gingerly released the trap to snap shut on open air.

With the hard part over, Aragorn leaned over the stranger and wrapped a bandage firmly around the injured leg.

"What do we do with him now?" Boromir asked, as he looked down upon the sleeping figure.

"We take him with us, at least until he wakes up. It's too dangerous to leave him alone in a position where he can't defend himself," Aragorn declared, as he situated himself into a position where he could gently swing the stranger over his shoulder.

"You mean to take him with us to the Shire?" Boromir asked, as he stared incredulously at the silver eyed ranger.

"I have to agree with Boromir laddie. We know nothing about him. What if he tries to hurt somebody?"Gimli said. With a distrusting glare at the stranger that now rode on Aragorn's shoulder.

"He won't master dwarf. He had opportunity enough to hurt any of us, yet he held himself in check. But if it will put your mind at ease, we will remove him of his weapons before we enter the Shire. Does that suit you?" He asked, not really waiting for an answer as he lifted both his pack and the limp form up to rest securely across his shoulder. Once he was up onto his feet Aragorn set off once again in the direction of their refuge.

Gimli and Boromir looked at each other, before Boromir gave a shrug and trotted after the ranger after grabbing his own pack. With a dejected sigh, the dwarf forced himself to his own feet to follow after the two men.

 **TBC**

 **Thanks for sticking around, and thank you all for reading. I would also like to thank those who left reviews, favorited, and fallowed my story.**

 **You are a beautiful people! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The sound of chirping was the first thing that the elf became aware of.

 _Birds? That can't be right. Surely I must be dreaming, but why am I asleep in the first place. I can't recall ever going to sleep. And why is it so dark?_

There was the sound of rustling fabric to his side, as if someone was shifting their position, followed by a light cough. At that moment, memory came crashing back to him, quickly accompanied by the feeling of fear.

 _I was drugged! What are they going to do to me? I remember seeing some crazy cannibalistic men before. Are these people cannibals too? Food is hard to come by, but that is really going beyond that of humane. After all I have survived I will not die like this! I need to escape. But the drugs are still in my system; I'm too weary to fight them. What do I do?_

His inner debate was put on pause as he felt a pair of gentle hands probe at an area on his lower left leg. He forcibly made his sluggish eyes open; a task that was seemed foreign to him, so that he could see what was going on.

After opening his eyes, he came upon the sight of the silver eyed man, bending down over his leg, and examining the blood stained bandage with a keen eye.

A whole range of emotions bubbled up inside the elf, ranging from fear, to confusion, to curiosity. It terrified him to have a stranger and potential cannibal so close to him. But why did he seem so concerned about the elf's wound. Injured prey doesn't affect the meat on them, however little there was on him. It made no sense to treat his wound if they were going to kill him anyways.

Disorientingly confused, Legolas decided to push that topic away for the moment and take stock of his surroundings. The man didn't seem to know that his patient was awake, which was fine by him. He really didn't feel like fighting the man, and was almost positive that he would lose any fight at that moment.

He could still hear the faint twittering of songbirds in the area.

 _Songbirds? I haven't heard a songbird in years. Perhaps it's only my imagination, or maybe some person is simply really good at whistling._

With a mental shrug he continued to take stock of the things around him. He was lying in a tent on his back on top of a thin blanket, but compared to other places he had to sleep in, in the past, this felt like luxury. The blanket was soft, the ground wasn't too hard, and even the grass wasn't particularly prickly. In fact, it almost felt like it was alive. He took a deep breath in the hopes to clear his mind somewhat, and was startled to realize that the cloth that he constantly wore over his nose and mouth was not there.

Fear once again played in his mind, as he raised his hands to clap over his face.

 _How long was I breathing for without it? I know I still had it on before I was knocked out. Is this how they were planning to kill me? By slowly suffocating to death? Is there no end to people's cruelty?_

The stranger looked up from his examination, at the elf's panicked movements. Seeing what the elf was trying to do, and realizing what it was that was making his patient so nervous, he gave a small, kind chuckle.

He spoke soothingly, yet unintelligibly in the common tongue.

"(I don't understand you!)" Legolas yelled, as he tried to back away from the stranger, now that he knew that he was awake.

The stranger frowned slightly and held his hands in the universal sign of "I'm not holding a weapon." He then pointed to his own face to show that he too was not wearing a face cloth.

"The air is safe. It's alright for you to breathe," Aragorn said, as he took a deep breath himself to demonstrate.

Seeing this, the blue eyed figure hesitantly lowered his hands from his nose and mouth, and took a deep breath to both assure himself that it was safe, and to calm his nerves.

"Good. Now, hold still. I need to rewrap your leg," he said, as he took a step forwards. Unfortunately, that one step was enough to set the stranger off again, as he clumsily tried to move away.

However, when the blond tried to stand, Aragorn leapt forwards and forcibly pushed to warrior back to the ground. He hated to use force on a patient, but also knew that it was necessary at times. The blond was still waking up from the drugs, and would likely become nauseous, upon standing up too quickly; also he could cause damage to his injured leg if he put any weight on it too soon.

Even though he was only trying to help, Aragorn still felt a thread of guilt in his chest, as the blue eyed warrior struggled feebly under him.

"Please, just calm down. I'm not going to hurt you," He begged. Frustration was rising up now, as he tried to consider the best choice of action to take with this situation.

It was obvious that the warrior didn't understand a word that he was saying. It was also clear that he was afraid.

Under normal circumstances, the best option would be to give him some space to calm down, but these weren't normal circumstances. This was a warrior he was dealing with, and would continue to fight tooth and nail to escape any perceived danger, and would only just end up hurting himself in that process.

If he didn't want the warrior to get hurt, his only option would be to continue to holding him down, but by doing so he only fueled the panic. Also, since he was using both his hands to hold the blond down, he was unable to treat the wound.

 _What now? What now?_

Just at that moment, when he was debating with himself on what to do, Gimli swung the tent flap open and walked in.

"Aragorn? You wouldn't happen to know-"

"Gimli, please come here. I need help," Aragorn interrupted, as he gestured the dwarf over with his chin, since his hands were already occupied.

Surprise colored the dwarf's face at being interrupted so abruptly, but he quickly regained himself, and hurried over to the ranger's side.

"What do you need?" he asked, as he looked down at the squirming figure.

"Please, just hold him down so that I can properly look at his leg," he requested. With a nod, the dwarf knelt down on the other side of the blond, opposite to Aragorn, and gently placed his large hands on the blonde's shoulders to hold him flush to the ground.

"Easy there laddie. Aragorn is just trying to help you," Gimli said, as the warrior redoubled his efforts to free himself.

With the patient properly restrained, Aragorn firmly grabbed the injured leg right below the knee, which was just above the injury.

He was quite surprised to find that the wound wasn't nearly as bad as it should have been. If it continued to heal at the rate it currently was, it would take no longer than a day or two for the warrior to be well enough to move about. However, for the time being, the limb was not strong enough to support the weight of its owner- however light he may be.

That was another thing that Aragorn was concerned about. The warrior was very slight in weight. He had noticed the lack of weight when he was carrying the stranger into the Shire, but didn't have a chance to address the issue, since the warrior was unconscious. His main worry also resided for the warrior's leg at the time.

Now, however, since the main issue had been taken care of, he decided it was time to get some proper nourishment into the warrior, that and he also needed to look at the warrior's hands. It was true that food was hard to come by, but here in the Shire, they had made managed to make a bit of a living for themselves. Life was only slightly more abundant in the Shire, and through a lot of hard work, they had managed to actually grow a few small crops. There was also a greater amount of game to be found in the area than there was in others, but the greatest miracle was the stream that flowed straight through the Shire. Unlike most other streams that flowed throughout Adra, this one was clear and clean. It was the stream that made life in the Shire possible.

He gently yet forcibly took one of the warrior's wrists to examine the palm of his hand. Carefully, he wiped away all the dried blood and dirt, so that he could properly look at the cut. Like the stranger's leg, the injury was doing much better than expected. The cuts weren't even bleeding any more. All he really needed to do was wrap up the palm to keep the cuts clean. Once both of the stranger's hands were taken care of, he then turned his attention back to the dwarf.

"Thank you for holding him, my friend. You had a question for me?" Aragorn asked, as he took Gimli's place as the one to hold down the stranger.

"Aw, yes. I was wondering if you happened to know where Gandalf wondered off to. I was meaning to ask 'im something," He replied, as he sat back on his knees; patiently waiting an answer from the ranger.

Aragorn opened his mouth to reply that, no he didn't know where the old wizard was, but was interrupted by a shy yet musical voice, from the ground.

"Gandalf?" The stranger questioned - all previous struggle put on hold as he asked that one word.

"Gandalf? Isimleri? Mithrandir? elvellon?"

Hesitantly, Aragorn allowed the stranger to sit up. It was obvious that he recognized the wizard's name, and he appeared to have calmed down quite a bit after hearing the name. An idea presented itself to him in his head. Perhaps the old man could help.

"Please do try and find him Gimli, and when you do, bring him here directly."

With that said, the dwarf gave a curt nod before exiting the tent once more. With a hopeful smile on his face, Aragorn turned back to face the stranger.

"Well then, now that we're alone," he said, as he stood and walked across to the other side of the tent where a plate sat. "Would you like something to eat?" he finished, holding out the plate to show the bread on it to the stranger.

 _Gandalf? How would they know Gandalf? Are they holding him as a hostage? I haven't even heard a word of him since the fall of Mirkwood. How did he end up here of all places? Where even is here?_

Looking up sharply, Legolas glared dangerously at the stranger, as he held out the plate.

 _Does he truly believe that I will allow myself to be drugged once again?_

Rather than wait for the man to approach, Legolas sprang unsteadily to his feet and ran/limped to the back of the tent, where he then crawled out from under the heavy canvas. He heard the clatter of a tray being dropped, and heard the protests of the stranger, but paid no attention to him. He darted out into the open, where he promptly came to a stop, where he stared at his surroundings with wide eyes.

 _How is this possible? The world is alive here!_

Tears came to the Elf's eyes as for the first time since the world fell, he could hear the world around him trying to communicate. There were no voices. All of the trees that once knew how to speak had died before they could teach others, but he could feel the emotions of everything around him. He could sense the music.

There was a strong sense of melancholy, but also an undertone of joy at being alive. It was too much for him to take in at once, and he was completely overcome by their strong emotions.

The trees became so excited when they felt the elf's consciousness brush against their own, that they pushed even more of their emotions onto the elf; not realizing that they were overwhelming him.

With a whimper, he sank down to his knees with his head cradled in both hands.

 _I am glad to feel you too, but please, you all are hurting me. This is all too much too soon._

But the trees didn't understand. They certainly didn't want their new friend to be in pain; they simply didn't understand that they were the cause, and in an attempt to comfort him, they pushed their consciousnesses further into him.

That was the sight that Aragorn came upon. The elf curled up on the ground, with his hands clasped over his head in pain. Legolas was vaguely aware of the stranger running up to him, and knew that he needed to run away, but try as he might, he couldn't get his limbs to do what his mind was telling them.

 _Please stop! I must flee! I must get away!_

The trees didn't understand the meaning of the words, but they could feel the emotion and intent behind the words. They realized that their new friend wanted to leave. It was at that moment that the trees found a voice to speak their first word.

" _NO!_

"Be still. Please do not try and run. I mean only to help you," Aragorn said, as he dropped down next to the pained creature. He carefully pulled the stranger's hands away from his head so that it could be possible to try and see what was wrong. The stranger just curled up even tighter, and took pained gasps through his teeth.

 _What is wrong with him? I've never seen something like this before. Perhaps it's a reaction to the drug?_ _But if that is so, why didn't he react to it sooner? I only wish that I were a more knowledgeable healer._

He than tried to make the stranger straighten out. He couldn't see the stranger's head with him curled up, and it was only too obvious that that was where the pain was located.

He fought with the stranger for a moment before giving a reluctant sigh. He forced the stranger onto his back, then straddled him to sit on waist, giving himself better leverage over the stranger, as well as a better view of his head. He grappled with the stranger's arms for a moment before pinning them across his chest, and holding them immobile with both a hand and knee.

With his free hand, Aragorn gently parted the stranger's hair in an attempt to find the source of the pain.

"What is heaven's name is going on here?" an ancient, yet authoritative voice demanded.

Aragorn looked up to behold the old wizard, Gandalf, in all of his perplexed glory. Gimli stood near the wizard's side, watching the unfolding scene in similar bafflement. It was at that moment that the stranger yelled out in pain in the beautiful yet unintelligible language of his.

The wizard's eyes widened in surprise and recognition, before kneeling down next to the stranger. Placing a hand on the pained creature's forehead, he closed his eyes in concentration, before mumbling an incantation. The tip of the wizard's staff glowed blue for a brief moment, before the stranger stilled; breathing heavily to catch his breath.

"Feeling better, mell edhel?" Gandalf asked, as the stranger regained control over his breathing.

Slowly, the stranger cracked his eyes open, and smiled elegantly up at the the old wizard.

("Gandalf. It's such a relief to hear a familiar voice, even if I can't understand half of what you are saying,") Legolas said, as the the pain from the trees withdrew.

He could still feel them on the edge of his mind, but he was no longer painfully over whelmed by them.

The wizard fround. ("When Gimli here said that Aragorn required assistance for caring for a skittish stranger, I never anticipated that that stranger would end up being one of the firstborn. How is it that you came to be here?")

("I haven't a clue as to where 'here' even is. I was drugged before I was carried into this haven. However, I must say, this land is unlike any in the present world. How is it that this land is filled with so much life?") Legolas asked, as he looked up at the bemused wizard from his position on his back.

("The inhabitants of this area are of a hearty folk. With the help of myself and some others, we managed to restore some of this land's beauty. You will find no enemies here, in the Shire. Now tell me mell edhel, What is your name?") Gandalf asked.

Legolas frowned. He had completely forgotten about the man restraining him, in favor of looking up at the Wizard. ("You don't remember my face Gandalf? I know I must look different, but I never anticipated being completely unrecognized. It is I, Gandalf. Legolas,") He said, looking up into the wizard's grey eyes.

Recognition flashed within the grey orbs, and a smile stretched across his withered face. "Legolas Greenleaf! How good it is to see you. It is good to know that you still live, and walk upon this earth," The Wizard exclaimed, switching to the common tongue in his excitement.

The elf looked blankly at him for a moment, trying to recall the meaning to the words that he had said, but ultimately failing.

("Forgive me, I am having difficulty recalling the language of men. Can you repeat what you said?")

The wizard looked a bit surprised by this revelation, before nodding.

("I was only saying that it is good to see you. Now tell me. How did your becoming pinned by Aragorn come about?")

 **Translations:**

 **elvellon - Elf friend**

 **Mell edhel - Dear elf**

 **Hello to everyone of internet land. I am sincerely sorry for my utter failure of updating, but given the current predicament of my life, I found writing a fictional story to be rather low on my priorities list. You see, my grandfather is now one his deathbed, and I have been spending the great majority of my time caring for him, as well as just spending time with him. I hope that the longer chapter can help to partly make up for my neglect.**

 **I will also take this time to apologize for the future, seeing as finals are coming up, and grandpa is still holding on; my time for future writing will be very limited, but once my life gets back into order I promise that there will be regular updates.**

 **Thank you for your patients.**

 **You are a beautiful person.**


End file.
